Christopher H. Snyder, 28, a member of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, Class of 1995, died December 13 in a helicopter crash off the coast of Colombia while carrying out anti-drug operations with the U.S. Navy.##M:[more]##
Snyder was a resident of Jacksonville, Florida. He visited the area in November for his 10th high school reunion. His classmates are still mourning another classmate, David Suarez, who died in the World Trade Center in 2001.
Snyder was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He attended preparatory school on a Naval Academy Foundation scholarship and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2000. Snyder majored in history and played intramural sports. He was a member of the Golden Hawks Naval Air Society, the Oceanography Club, the Latter-Day Saints Students Association, and the Churchill Society (a group promoting literature and the arts at the academy).
Flying for close to five years, he received his wings as a helicopter pilot in Pensacola, Florida. Snyder, who completed a six-month tour in the Persian Gulf last year, was in the 22nd Company.
According to reports he graduated from Naval Academy 60 years after his grandfather, the late Joseph Castleman Snyder. The retired Navy ship captain entertained Snyder with tales of the Navy.
Snyder was commander of the Seahawk flying off the USS DeWert, a Mayport-based guided missile frigate close to 350 miles off the coast of Colombia in South America. The helicopter went down shortly after takeoff. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Also killed were Nicolas J. Juron, 25, of Maryland; and John N. Kaye III of Iowa. Their squadron, the HSL-48 Anti-submarine Squadron Light Four Eight, based in Jacksonville, Florida, held a memorial for the three men.
Survivors include his mother Carol Snyder of Mount Holly; a sister Aliza Snyder of Davie, Florida; and his intended fiance, Sara Carter of Jacksonville, Florida. His father was the late Hugh “Frank” Snyder.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 14, at 1 p.m., at the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Avenue, Princeton. Family and friends are invited to a luncheon at the Hyatt Regency following the service.
Plainsboro Volunteer Fire Company memorialized the Navy lieutenant with a sign outside the fire house. “In Memory of Lt. Christopher Snyder USN, WWPHS ‘95.” Donations may be made to the Lt. Christopher H. Snyder Scholarship Fund at High School South, c/o Robyn Neiderer, 1609 Countryside Lane, Jeffersonville, PA 19403.
